Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:47:54 +0530 (IST) From: Miguel Braganza <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Close on heels of what Dr. Anthony da Silva SJ, Jesuit Provincial of Goa said at the Principal Eduardo Soares Memorial lecture at St. Thomas HSS, Aldona, on Sunday 07 December, 2008, is this discussion that shows how ineffective corporal punishment is in bringing about desired change in behaviour. Threat of punishment cannot achieve half of what love and consideration can. India and Pakistan are beginning to learn this, it seems, in dealing with terrorists. Both Asif Zardari and Sonia Gandhi have lost their spouses to terrorists. They know better than to fight terror with terror. If one of the advoctes of corporal punishment is made to kneel down on sand for an error of judgement, he or she will immediately see the other point of view. Mario observes: Simply put, this is balderdash. To begin with, the study cited by Gilbert was about anti-social civic behavior, and the "punishment" was more like disapproval, not any threat of physical punishment. It had nothing to do with international terrorism. Fr. Anthony was talking about corporal punishment in schools, not Islamic terrorists. The objective of the Islamic terrorists is to spread their version of radical Islam around the world, by force if necessary. This is not something I made up, but has been repeated time and again by Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al Zuwahiri who are the leaders of the Islamic terrorist movement. They are not interested in anyone else'e point of view. Proof of this exists in the numerous attacks that were launched by Al Qaeda against the US and US interests throughout the 90's, when President Clinton chose to not respond with violence. The terrorists were emboldened to go even further, leading to 9/11. Proof of this exists in the actions of Saddam Hussain, who thumbed his nose at the UN for 12 years while they passed resolution after resolution demanding he disclose what he had done with his WMDs. Now India is learning is that doing nothing to confront international terrorism does not stop the terrorists from targeting and killing even more innocent Indians. The attacks are becoming more frequent and stronger, leading to the recent massacre of another 170 or so innocent Indians in Mumbai. The number of victims just since 2004 now stands at around 4,200. The only love and consideration the Islamic terrorists want are a) for the Jews to leave Israel, b) for India to relinquish Kashmir, and c) for the rest of us to become Muslims. Perhaps Miguel can start showing them his love by being the first one to convert. I can assure him that this will not earn him any exemption as these Islamic terrorists do not mind killing Muslims if they get in their way.
